Recently acquired a 2nd generation Eames Zenith armchair that I believe is Ochre in color. The chair is "rough" to the touch, is this charecteristic of the Zenith produced shells? If not what will you recommend to repair this? I know about penetrol and the chairfag tutorial but I do not want to give the chair a high gloss look, because the zenith made models did not have this charecteristic, correct? I really want the chair to retain the look of what it was meant to look like, should I be concerned about the roughness? Does it compromise the strength and durability of the chair?
The Zenith shells in...
The Zenith shells in excellent original condition do have a very shiny surface. The shine is not a coating, but an inherent property of the resin that surrounds the fiberglass. Your chair possibly spent some time outside if it is very rough to the touch with a very dull finish.
Sometimes that same weathering is partly what makes the chair so beautiful to look at though. And at least you know its an honest surface, showing its character.
Like you, I dont like the penetrol results-- mostly because you can tell when a chair has been re coated with that stuff from a mile away. Most of the time it just looks ridiculously "wet".
There are several other less severe options that would enhance the surface in more subtle and measured ways. Waxes, fiberglass buffing compounds, etc., all can bring back some depth and sheen to different degrees, depending upon the surface condition.
One important practical issue is if the fiberglass is so rough that it is causes irritation when it comes in contact with skin. What looks beautiful might not feel beautiful.
I lean towards taking more subtle steps, and I am probably a bit extreme in my tolerance for the impractical. I would put up with a less functional chair that was smashing to look at. But that is such a personal thing. Just one opinion.
Hope this helps.
PS I guess if you just want the closest look to original shine, in a superficial way, then penetrol does get it back to looking shiny again. But to me, "penetrol shiny" is very different look than "original" shiny. And once its coated, its no longer original. Its refinished. Rough is at least real.
(And beautiful too.)
Thank you! I agree with you...
Thank you! I agree with you on the authentic look of the chair, it really has quite a lot of character. Some shine still remains in areas of the chair. I wouldn't say the chair is "very" rough. But you can definitely feel the texture of the chair when running a hand across it's surface, but it is far from irritating to my skin. I've run fabric across it to see if it will pick up any stray strands of fiberglass and I haven't noticed any straying strands left on the fabric. Any particular waxes you would recommend that wouldn't alter the chair in immense ways?
I often hear in passing that...
I often hear in passing that waxing is an option, but I'm not as well-versed in the world of wax as some here are. So I will defer to other's recommendations, if they have any. (I would be interested in hearing about a great wax product for use on these chairs myself...)
I tend to use the rule of thumb that as long as it's passive, you cant do much damage. I have experimented with different common furniture polishes, and fiberglass cleaners and polishes, and have found that with enough time and repetitions, the surface will become richer, probably benefiting from all of the rubbing as much as anything else.
The fiberglass restoratives and polishes probably work quite well with a buffing pad machine, but I have not wanted or needed to go that far yet. By hand, they don't seem to change the surface all that much.
Fiberglass is sturdy, and its hard to do much damage with the stuff Ive mentioned. You can clean anything off that doesn't work without too much effort.
And to answer your other question, you will not compromise the structural integrity or lifespan of the shell.
Posting a picture sometimes helps to get responses here, but what you have described is a commonly seen (and understood) condition.
Hi
I don't believe wax treatment will "improve" the look or feel of an early shell chair. If the surface is uncomfortable to bare skin, I would not use the chair in that capacity. You could add a pad or throw if you really want to use the chair. Otherwise, I might be inclined to keep it as a display piece and get a later shell (which has less pronounced and protrusive fibers) for regular use.
Yeah woody,
I tried a...
Yeah woody,
I tried a wax product or two, and didn't get good results. I was hoping that I simply had not found the right one... so good to know.
Thanks for saving me the trouble of "further forays into the world of wax".
(kittybufu-- woody knows his stuff!)
Here are some photos of the...
Here are some photos of the Armchair I picked up. Would you say the chair is Ochre? Butterscotch? I have the original X base, but was wanting your opinions about the replica rocker bases. Ive been looking at the ones sold by modernconscience.com, what color combo in your opinion would look best on this color shell? Ive been struggling to settle on one, you know black base, walnut glides, zinc base, birch glides, black base, maple glides, and so forth.
greige
Beautiful shell! (and the sheen on the surface doesn't look too bad at all)
As for the color, photos can be misleading for sure, but this is probably "greige", one of the six earliest shell colors. There are so many variations in appearance of any given color, due to color batch, age patina, etc, that sometimes its hard to tell.
So now it's time to talk you into a VINTAGE rocker base! ??? Heh, just kidding... but pretty much not kidding.
I guess I am too biased towards going all- vintage to help with the repro rocker search... but to answer your question about the looks, it really just comes down to taste, and what else you have near it, if you are not worried about "vintage appropriateness". I would just go for something that does not look or feel too brand new, on such a nicely aged/seasoned shell. I like birch when it gets aged or darkened, but that is just me. And MAYBE zinc on this shell? ...dunno, just taste. (Then throw the base outside for a month or ten to give it some character!)
Finding a rocker base without a shell is a bit difficult, but not impossible on ebay, but you would have to be patient, and check in a lot. Price wise, maybe about 4x more or so for vintage, IF you can find one.
Thanks again for letting us see it!
I have a very similar 2nd...
I have a very similar 2nd gen shell on an x-base. The fiberglass certainly has more texture than the later chairs I have, but I would not describe it as 'rough' to the touch.
I really like the look of the early light colored shells on the solid black rod legs. If you do switch it out for a rocker or whatever, keep the x base - it might grow on you over time.
If we are talking x base wi...
If we are talking x base with solid legs, I too like the look of black better.
And I agree that the original poster should hold on to the vintage original base. They do grow on you. And at some point, authenticity might make more meaning to the owner than the "look" (or even function) of a reproduction base.
It took me a while to learn, but I have almost always been sorry when I switched out a base. Even if it was a "correct" pairing, I still couldn't forget that it was no longer the original piece as found, and somehow more was lost than gained.
Just my OCD steeped opinion, of course.
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